"Shredpaw?"
Shredpaw blinked open his eyes, his head dizzy and groggy, "Huh? Cownose?"
"No. Rosepaw."
Shredpaw lifted his head and looked at his sister, her pinkish fur looking even more peach-colored in the sunlight, "You need something?" he asked.
"No. Dawn patrol. Come on." Rosepaw mewed.
Shredpaw turned around and put his paws over his muzzle, "No." he groaned, "Five more se- Hey! Let go!"
Rosepaw had grabbed Shredpaw by the scruff and was dragging him out of the den. When the apprentices were fully out she dropped him, "Up."
He frowned and stood up, "I prefer when you're a pain." he grumbled.
Rosepaw snorted and walked up to the patrol. Shredpaw followed. Stormcall, Saltclaw, Bristlesong, Berrystep and Mistfur were on the patrol. Shredpaw felt even more embarrassed. He saw Rosepaw drag him out of the apprentice den! He must've thought Shredpaw was lazy, didn't he?
I've messed everything up. He thought as he approached the patrol.
Berrystep flicked her tail, "We're all here?"
Mistfur nodded, "I think so."
"Then let's go." Berrystep mewed, leaving camp.
Shredpaw followed Berrystep, Rosepaw besides him.
"So, you gonna try to talk to Mistfur?" Rosepaw asked teasingly.
Shredpaw quickly glanced behind him to see if Mistfur had heard his sister, but the pale grey tabby gave no indication that he had. Shredpaw faced Rosepaw, "Shush! He could've heard you." he whispered.
Rosepaw snickered, "Stop being such a scaredy cat! You need to tackle this head on!" she whispered back.
Shredpaw hesitated to respond. He bit his lip, "But I don't know how to. How do I tackle something I'm afraid to even talk to?"
Rosepaw thought for a moment, then her face lit up and she smiled.
"What's that smile for? What are you planning?" Shredpaw asked. He didn't like where this was going.
Rosepaw didn't respond, which worried Shredpaw even more, "Rosepa- oof!"
Rosepaw had tripped her brother with her paw. He fell down into still damp leaves. He felt someone pick him up by the scruff and he looked over his shoulder.
"You ok, Shred?" Mistfur mewed, helping Shredpaw up.
Did he… Did he just give me a nickname? Shredpaw blushed. He had seen cats flirt using nicknames and such, so this only flustered him and made him blush, "Uh, y-yeah. I'm f-fine."
MIstfur nodded, "Be more careful next time, 'kay?"
Shredpaw looked at him, "Y-yeah. Ok."
Shredpaw watched Mistfur walk towards the rest of the patrol. Shredpaw looked at him with moony eyes and smiled lovingly.
"And Mistfur comes to the rescue." Rosepaw mewed as Shredpaw caught up with the patrol.
"Mhm." Shredpaw was too dazed to be listening to his sisters witty quips.
"Dude, snap out of it. Stay like that and you'll trip again." Rosepaw mewed with a chuckle.
Shredpaw shook his head, "Right, right. Sorry." he mewed. He focused his amber eyes on the patrol, following them.
Shredpaw could hear bird song in almost every tree, and he shifted his ears when he thought he heard tiny scrambling sounds and woodland chitters. Stormcall was walking besides Shredpaw. The grey tabby warrior was walking slowly and he looked dazed. Stormcall hadn't been in a very good mood since Shinekit's was always so distant and his eyes seemed dull and void. The tom was skinnier than before, clearly eating less. His pelt was messy and unkempt and his breath was growing fetid. Shredpaw blinked with sympathy, "Hey Stormcall."
The tabby tom turned to face Shredpaw, "Hello."
"How have you been doing?" Shredpaw asked. He knew the answer, he just wanted to know if Stormcall knew.
Stormcall choked a bit. He turned and looked at the ground, "I miss my son."
Shredpaw frowned, "I'm sorry I couldn't retrieve him on time."
"Don't be." Stormcall mewed, "It's not your fault. The cliff grew weak. Maybe if it hadn't been raining, he would've been ok."
Stormcall looked at the sky. The rain had stopped a while back, to Shredpaw's favor. Stormcall sighed, "Why did StarClan have to take him?"
"Starclan wouldn't have taken him!" Shredpaw mewed.
"StarClan would've stopped the rain if they wouldn't have wanted him." Stormcall mewed, sounding spaced and tired.
Shredpaw frowned. He sped up, leaving Stormcall at the end of the patrol. A crow cawed in one of the branches, spooking Shredpaw.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of birds now?" Rosepaw mewed teasingly, falling into pace with her brother.
"I'm not! It was just very loud." Shredpaw mewed defensively.
Berrystep froze, stopping the whole patrol. The dawn patrol cats looked at eachother. Saltclaw sniffed, "What's wrong?"
"Shh, do you hear that?" Berrystep mewed quietly, her ears erect.
Shredpaw pricked his ears and tried to listen. The sound of birds was much less here, so it made it slightly easier.
Whhhiiiirrrrrrrrr!
He heard a whirring sound. Did it sound like it was getting closer? He looked around and then he saw something. A FakeBird!
The black FakeBird was flying at full speed, zooming towards a clump of ferns. Shredpaw's fear rose when he saw that Mistfur was beside the ferns, his back turned to the FakeBird, unaware of the danger. The FakeBird was getting closer!
"Look out!" Shredpawyowled, leaping and tackling the pale grey tabby away from the ferns. The two rolled and Shredpaw pinned Mistfur. He looked over his shoulder and saw the FakeBird rip the ferns in half and was speeding still. Bristlesong yelped and jumped out of the way, the FakeBird almost grazing her bare muzzle. The FakeBird was heading for a tree. It didn't seem to know, or stop.
Crash!
The FakeBird smashed itself against the oak and fell down pitifully. It sparked a bit, but nothing extreme. It's spinning paws slowed and slowed until it just stopped all together.
Shredpaw looked down, "Are you alright?" he asked Mistfur.
Mistfur nodded, "Yeah. Thanks for saving me."
"O-of course!" Shredpaw mewed. He couldn't stop looking into Mistfur's blue eyes. The white flecks that were thrown around the tabby's pelt. His soft fur. Shredpaw wished he could just flop down and cuddle with the warrior.
"Er- Can you get off me?" Mistfur asked awkwardly.
Shredpaw flushed and felt his pelt grow hot, realizing he must've made Mistfur a tad uncomfortable by just staring at him, "UH, er, y-yeah. Sorry. Sorry." he walked off of Mistfur, the brown tabby feeling more embarrassed than ever.
Mistfur stood up and shook his pelt and looked at the FakeBird. Berrystep walked over to Mistfur and sniffed him, "You ok?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Mistfur mewed.
Berrystep looked at Shredpaw, "Thank you for saving him."
Shredpaw nodded, "O-of course."
Saltclaw was approaching the FakeBird along with Bristlesong. Berrystep bristled, "What are you doing?"
"Making sure the devil is dead." Saltclaw growled.
"No dead. It was never alive in the first place. Just controlled." Bristlesong mewed with a frown. Saltclaw rolled his eyes.
"Be careful!" Berrystep mewed with worry.
Bristlesong slowly approached the FakeBird and prodded with a hairless. He touched on the paws and spun it, shaking out her fur when a leaf fell on her. She faced the patrol, "It won't do anything anymore."
"Should we bury it?" Berrystep mewed.
Bristlesong shrugged, "It's the twoleg's thing, not ours."
"Wait, where's Stormcall?" Mistfur asked.
Shredpaw looked back, seeing that the dark grey tabby was gone. He froze. Oh StarClan, where could he have gone? Stormcall was less than okay. His eyes were always looking somewhere else, he was tuned out and distracted. What if a dog confronted him? Would Stormcall be able to react fast enough to escape it or would he be crowfood? Shredpaw shuddered at the thought of Stormcall just sitting there as a dog sank its fangs into him.
"I saw him earlier." Shredpaw mewed, "He didn't seem like he planned on going anywhere. Just seemed sad. He misses Shinekit."
Bristlesong frowned, "Maybe so, but he can grieve at camp. We'll have to send a patrol out after we get back to camp. Stormcall may be a bit distant now but his senses are bound to come back and he'll be in camp soon. Let's go."
"Hey!" Berrystep's shoulder fur began to rise, "I'm leading this patrol! Shouldn't I get a say."
Bristlesong looked at Berrystep, "Last time I checked, you became a warrior not even a year ago, and I'm a senior warrior. Who do you think has more power in this situation? You or me." she mewed cooly, though clearly irritated.
Berrystep opened her maw to reply, only to see Bristlesong's gaze flicker with annoyance and anger. Berrystep closed her mouth and looked down at her paws. Bristlesong huffed and turned around, the rest of the patrol following. Mistfur walked besides Berrystep, talking with his friend. Shredpaw trailed behind.
Shredpaw entered camp soon. He spotted Cloudpelt playing mossball with Spraykit. Shredpaw looked at them. How would Cloudpelt feel now that her mate was gone as well. And Spraykit, oh Shredpaw didn't want to hurt the young tom. Saltclaw looked at both Shedpaw and Rosepaw, "You two get some prey and settle down. You did good today. Tomorrow we'll do battle skills Rosepaw."
Shredpaw nodded and headed for the fresh-kill pile, Rosepaw trailing behind him.
"Why did Stormcall leave?" Rosepaw meowed as Shredpaw began to sniff through the fresh-kill pile.
He shrugged, "I don't know."
Rosepaw sniffed a mouse, "You think he ran away from the Clans? Went to a loner or," she gasped, "Maybe a kittypet!"
"Shut up, Rosepaw!" Shredpaw hissed. He looked at Cloudpelt. Saltclaw was walking over to her as Spraykit batted the moss ball to his mother. Shredpaw faced Rosepaw, "This'll be hard on her. Theories will make it worse. Besides, Stormcall is an honorable warrior of SkyClan. He would never become a kittypet. He's probably just thinking."
"You don't know that." Rosepaw mewed, picking up the mouse.
Rosepaw was right. He didn't know. Stormcall could have left the territory, looking for a grief-free life. He shook the nasty thought away, "He just lost a kit, Rosepaw. Give him a break. Life hasn't been treating him the best."
Rosepaw muffled a "Whatever" and took the mouse over to the apprentice den. Shredpaw grabbed a grey squirrel and walked towards the apprentice den, sitting outside, away from Rosepaw.
She's such a pest! Shredpaw thought with a furrowed brows before biting into his prey. He could hardly finish his prey, losing his appetite. He grabbed the squirrel and gave it to his sister, "I'm not hungry."
She replied only with a huff and continued to eat her mouse.
"What do you mean Stormcall is gone? He can't be! He has me and his son to take care of!"
Shredpaw winced as the loud shriek of Cloudpelt pierced his ears. He looked out to see Saltclaw trying to calm the queen down. Cloudpelt hissed and ran towards the entrance, "Stormcall!" she yowled, "Stormcall!"
Shadowcloud ran up to Cloudpelt and was talking to her slowly. Cloudpelt looked at Shadowcloud with misty eyes and broke down in tears against the warrior's shoulder. Cloudpelt pressed against Shadowcloud's body and the balck she-cat led her back to the nursery.
Shredpaw looked over at Spraykit. The young kit looked fearful, but was seeming to try and hide that fear. Shredpaw stood up, shaking moss sprigs from his coat and walked over to Spraykit, taking a seat next to the kit. Spraykit looked up, his blue eyes filled with confusion. The two shared stares for a while before Spraykit turned away and looked at his paws, pursing his lips. Shredpaw put his tail on the young tom's back, "It's gonna be ok. Stormcall is most likely just out for a walk."
Spraykit looked up, hope sparking in his blue eyes, "Are you sure?"
Shredpaw nodded, messing up Spraykit's head fur, "Positive." he mewed with a smile.
Shredpaw glanced over at the nursery, Shadowcloud calming Cloudpelt. Spraykit looked over as well and blinked. He stood up and looked at Shredpaw with an awkward glance, "Do you wanna play moss ball?"
Shredpaw smiled, "Yeah. Come on."
Shredpaw stood up and walked as Spraykit scampered off, returning with a ball of moss in his jaws. Shredpaw smiled as Spraykit swatted the ball over to Shredpaw, the brown tabby hitting it with a seemed to forget his worry as the young tom enjoyed the game of moss ball with Shredpaw. Shredpaw had to admit, he was enjoying the game as well. He stifled a sigh, wishing that everyday could be as good a simple game of moss ball.